3rd Annual TV News Trust Poll

PPP's 3rd annual TV news trust poll (2011 version here, 2010 version here) finds that Fox News tops the list for both the source Americans trust the most and the one they trust the least.

Fox is the most trusted TV news source for 34% of voters, followed by PBS at 17%, CNN at 12%, ABC News at 11%, CBS News at 8%, MSNBC at 5%, and Comedy Central and NBC each at 4%.

68% of Republicans pick Fox as their most trusted source, with no one else even hitting double digits. Democrats split closely three ways with PBS at 21%, ABC News at 19%, and CNN at 17%. Despite having a reputation for appealing to the left MSNBC actually polls in only 6th place among Democrats at 8%, finishing slightly behind even Fox News' 9%. Independents split almost evenly between Fox News (29%) and PBS (27%).

Fox is also the least trusted TV news source for 34% of voters, followed by Comedy Central at 16%, MSNBC at 15%, CNN at 11%, ABC News at 7%, CBS News at 5%, PBS at 2%, and NBC News at 1%.

Democrats (53-17 over Comedy Central) and independents (44-13 over Comedy Central) both overwhelmingly say Fox is their least trusted news source. Republicans go for MSNBC by a 28-23 margin over CNN, followed by Comedy Central at 18% and ABC News at 10%.

In addition to asking the single network voters trusted the most and least, we also asked them to say whether they trusted each individual source. Here's how they came out from net most trusted to least, compared with the previous two polls:

Outlet	2012 Trust/Distrust	2011 Trust/Distrust	2010 Trust/Distrust	Shift from 2010 to 2012	Shift from 2011 to 2012
PBS	(52/30) +22	(50/30) +20	Not Tested	N/A	+2
NBC News	(44/38) +6	(41/41) 0	(35/44) -9	+15	+6
CNN	(43/39) +4	(40/43) -3	(39/41) -2	+6	+7
Fox News	(45/42) +3	(42/46) -4	(49/37) +12	-9	+7
CBS News	(40/42) -2	(36/43) -7	(32/46) -14	+12	+5
ABC News	(37/40) -3	(35/43) -8	(31/46) -15	+12	+5
MSNBC	(38/43) -5	Not Tested	Not Tested	N/A	N/A
Comedy Central	(28/46) -18	Not Tested	Not Tested	N/A	N/A

-For the second year in a row PBS easily comes out ahead as the outlet the most people trust, even if it isn't necessarily the one they trust the most.

-In general trust in television news has been on the rise over the last two years. Trust in NBC News is up 15 points compared to 2010, CBS and ABC News are both up by 12 points, and CNN is up by 6 points. The only outlet in worse shape than it was 2 years ago is Fox News, which is down 9 points. But they're still headed in the right direction- they're up 7 points from 2011 after dropping by 16 points between 2010 and 2011.

-Democrats trust everything- except Fox News. NBC does the best with them at +50 (67/17), followed by PBS and CNN at +49 (66/17 and 65/16 respectively), ABC at +38 (57/19), CBS at +35 (58/23), MSNBC at +33 (56/23), and even Comedy Central at +4 (36/32). Fox News comes in at -36 (25/61).

-Republicans meanwhile don't trust anything except Fox News. PBS comes the closest to breaking even among non-Fox outlets, although not very close, at -30 (26/56).  It's followed by CNN at -49 (18/67), MSNBC at -51 (18/69), NBC at -52 (17/69), CBS at -54 (17/71), ABC at -56 (14/70), and Comedy Central at -59 (12/71). But Fox News comes in at a stellar 73/17.

Independents are with the Democrats. They trust everything except Fox News. Main takeaway from this poll: tv news has become just as polarizing as the political parties in this country.

Full results here

Comments

[Clint]

My interpretation is that liberals understand that corporate-owned media does not qualify as 'news' but rather opinion and entertainment, which might explain their exodus to PBS for unbiased information. On the other hand, it seems that conservatives favor conservative outlets instead of actual unbiased journalism.

[jason]

The next time you do this poll you should test newspapers,NYT, WSJ, USA TODAY, etc. I think the numbers for NPR would be similar to the results for PBS. I wonder how many people have heard of NPR, it seems not too many have. Here are my thoughts on the credibility of news sources.

http://www.jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2012/01/american-news-media-overview-much-of-my.html

Keep up the good work PPP!

[Justin]

I wish Current TV was polled too.

I'd love to see which Business channel is the most/least trusted poll. CNBC would easily win most trusted of the business channels.

[AJ]

Comedy Central? What about ESPN? HBO? Nickolodeon???

[38_28_38]

Good grief!

I had hoped last years trends would continue & they gave me hope for a smarter America. That more people trust the Fox Fakework than they did last year makes me nauseous.

They should be charged with TREASON for all the blatant lies they tell & misinformation they intentionally disseminate.

*sigh*

[scott schear]

What strikes me as most interesting is: "Democrats trust everything - except..." and "Republicans don't trust anything - except..."
I seriously wonder at the neurological differences that gives rise to this kind of extreme disparity in perception.

[Madi Green]

Why only TV networks as the source of broadcast news? Remember that old time broadcast news source, radio? Why wasn't NPR, my main news source, among the broadcast news sources tested?

[mike c]

Internet is the ONLY place left where you can get the news, if you spend 10-15 min. sorting through the garbage they put out online too. Drudge, Infowars, etc...growing bigger every day!

[Limp-Dick Blimpaugh]

Intelligent people can definitely see why Faux Noise is down in ratings and is so untrusted, since it has been proven over and over that it is completely Right Wing propaganda and lies. Also Faux has been proven to have an audience that is the most uninformed from all the habitual lies and misinformation spewed at them.

[Joseph B. Davis]

Thanks for the article. I watch most of the sources mentioned. Comment by Scott Schear, above, made a lot of sense: "I seriously wonder at the neurological differences that give rise to this kind of extreme disparity in perception". A tennis friend is rabid against Fox. I have asked him to give me 1,2,or 3 examples of lies that Fox spreads. He hasn't been able to come up with any. Fox programs lean to the right but I haven't caught Fox News in any lies. Any errors are usually corrected in the next program. In your next poll ask participants to substantiate with an example of why they hold the opinion they do.